39 Lothair Road, L4
So, I had an idea, ran with it but alas (for now) it'll have to put on hold.
The idea was simple, a summer project with local teenagers to paint something beautiful, a butterfly, onto something others deemed not beautiful, an empty 'tinned up' house in Anfield. The original idea was to paint in Granton Road in Everton, where we grew up and my family lived until 2009. I was informed that demolition was too close for work to be carried out in our street so I started looking around the area for an alternative property. This search led me to LFC and this house on the photograph above in Lothair Road.
After months of planning and countless discussions with Liverpool Biennial folk and the Homebaked Crew, a local councillor, a Regeneration Officer, local Youth Club Workers, local teenagers, everyone on my business course, my mentor, my driving instructor, Liverpool Football Club, Regional Social Landlords, an Arts Council Officer, folk at FACT, a local film maker, a local author, at least 10 different paint companies, portaloo hire companies, container hire companies, insurance company, cherry picker companies, other artists, a painter and decorator consultant, my Mum, Dad, Aunty, Cousin, Stevo and Juliet I was ALMOST ready to go...project start date fixed as 23rd July.
However, the Arts Council decided one week ago today not to fund it. To say I was disappointed is an understatement. But that's that. I sulked for the entire weekend and I actually had no clue what to do next. I put everything into this and felt initially like a big giant failure. It's now a week on and I've had time to re-group and let everyone know. I've decided to see if I can now carry it over from a summer project to an Easter one next year...so the journey begins all over again now. Flippeneck.
Now that I've stopped sulking I'm starting to see some real positives coming from Project Butterfly. The amount of people who've jumped on board and been really supportive has been brilliant. I knew nobody on the above list 10 weeks ago - apart from the last five obviously!
Something will come of this.
